Toy crane



TOY CRANE Filed Sept. 14. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Get. 24, 1933 TOY CRANE Alfred Levy, Nuremberg, Germany Application September 14, 1932, Serial 633,184, and in Geny November 16, 1931 2 @laims. (@l. id-37) r Toy cranes are already known, in which the jib can be slewed, either to the right or to the left as desired, with the aid of a driving mechanism driving the winch drum.

The invention relates to a special construction of such a toy crane, by means of which the movements and the manipulation of. the crane simulate as near as possible those of a large mechanical slewing crane An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of examplein the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows the crane in side elevation in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section partly in top plan view of the base.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the bearing of the slewing jib.

In the base a driving mechanism 42 (preferably a clockwork mechanism) is arranged, the last drivnig wheel a of which rotates a shiftable shaft 1) of the winch drum c. To enable the load to be raised and lowered the oscillatable bearing d for the driving wheels 2 and 1 running in different directions is arranged, the reversing of which bearing is efiected with the aid of a connecting rod g and a lever h. The support of the jib is fixed one toothed rim is with central aperture for the pull rope. With the aid of the same driving mechanism which drives the winch drum, the jib can be turned as desired to the right or to the left after the winch drum has been disengaged. For this purpose the shiftable shaft 2) has a two-sided claw clutch m which can engage alternately in the winch drum 0 or in the toothed wheel 7: rotating the toothed rim is.

In connection with large cranes it is known, to fix the jib on a toothed rim with central apertures for the passage of the pull rope.

. A bearing of the crane, which is easy to produce and works reliably for toys, is attained if the toothed wheel is is made in the form of a ring with a concentric drawn-in hole so that the lower edge of the cylinder carries stamped-out teeth. The cylinder drawn from ,the toothed wheel ring serves at the same time as pivot pin for the crane. A covering ring Z prevents removal and tilting of the crane.

In the construction illustrated another adjustment of the bearing d relative to the shaft 1) and a locking of the winch drum, which will be hereinafter described, must be carried out for obtaining each individual operation of the crane. In

the event of the levers being in the. wrong position, the gearing might be damaged or the raised load dropped by premature releasing oi the winch drum. In order to facilitate as far as possible the setting of the levers for the children when play ing, so that wrong settings cannot occm, the en tire control is preferably carried out by one lever go h. The lower end of this lever h is'for this pun pose mounted so that the handle can be moved in a ball surface, but it is positively guided by a diagonal slot so that it. automatically comes into the correct extreme position. A two-armed lever o, mounted on the base at 12, serves for axially shifting the shaft b. A slot 0' of the lever 0 surrounding the control lever It causes the control lever to shift the claw clutch from the winch drum into the toothed wheel it only in the case 79 of its maximum amplitude of lateral oscillation, and to release both the toothed wheel at and the drum in itscentral position. An easy control and a convenient winding of the driving mocha nism is thus attained when the crane is at a $5 standstill, but this arrangement requires locking of thewinch drum both during the winding of i the driving mechanism and also during the slew ing of the crane, because otherwise the load would cause the supporting rope to unwind. For this purpose the winch drum has slots or teeth r in which a latch s engages as soon the spring 1? (Fig; 2) pushes it forward against the action of a cam u. g

.The' control is extremely simple. lit the lever it is shifted from the position indicated in Fig. 2 into the middle 1 of the diagonal guide, the wheels 6 and 1 run idle. If it is shifted into the position 2 the load is lifted, and in the position 3 the wheel f becomes operative and lowers the my load. In the position l the wheel 1 again becomes operative and owing to the engagement of the wheel n effects slewing of the crane; in the peeltion 5 the jib A is slewed in the opposite direction.

As this toy is intended particularly for export, an importantfeature is that it must be convenient to pack. For this purpose the base of the jib A is preferably made so that it can be pulled out of its support 1' until its lower end provided with a slot 1) can be turned downwards around the loo axle w.

I claim:

1. A toy crane comprising power mechanism including a laterally shiftable shaft, a winding drum rotatable thereon and formed on opposite sides with openings, a gear on the shiftable shaft, said gear having openings in line with the openings in the winding drum, a revoluble beam member having a gear on its base which meshes with the gearon the laterally shiftable shaft, a

clutch member having laterally extending fingers to engage the openings in either the gear on the shaft or the winding dxum, reversing mechanism associated with the shiftable shaft to cause the clutch member to engage either the gear or the drum, the reversing mechanism including a lever connected to the shaft, and a universally mounted hand lever for actuating said first lever.

A toy crane comprising a revoluble beam, a motor: iheluding a laterally shiftable shaft, a drum on the shaft, a gear wheel on the shaft helew the revoiuble beam, a gear on the latter mesh ing with the gear on the shiftahie shaft, a cluteh member on the shaft to cooperate with either the gear on the latter or the drum, means for reversing the rotation of the shaft including a pivoted frame, a lever connected to the frame, a pivoted lever connected to the shaft, a single actuat- 

